On a lonely road
surrounded by cactus, another mirage beckons.
The young couple reach a stop sign,
race to tear it down by mutual pulling
in opposite directions.

At the top of her lovely voice,
she explodes with screams
of thirst,
with the lack of a lifetime,
with too much pollen in her flower.

Her damp hair, wild as horses,
gallops down his biceps,
in a fury of desperation to their
raging chasm. The sound of attempted unity.
Bone against bone.

* * *

Look down from the mesa, at parched tierra
cracked open with frozen longing.
Hibernating beauties, ocotillo, agave, jacumba,
turn towards heaven. A chubasco, a sudden shower,
bursts a temporary end to dust.

The couple dance in warm rain
under an arched bow of colors
as a huge cactus opens its one flower
after years of waiting
for one brilliant day.